1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for estimating costs of components and molds, and a system for providing cost standard data.
2. Description of the Related Art
In industrial product manufacturing, engineers having expertise of component manufacturing have conventionally been in charge of estimation of production costs required for manufacturing components and molds for manufacturing components.
A system utilizing a computer has recently been introduced for cost estimation, and those who are not so familiar with component manufacturing have become able to fulfil cost estimation on their own.
For example, the cost estimation method disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. H7-282142, is a method in which processes from extraction of to-be manufactured components to computation of estimated costs are automated. According to this method, the shape of a cost-estimation-target sheet metal product is recognized using pre-set cross-sectional shape data, based on drawings of the metal sheet product. Based on the recognized cross-sectional shape of the sheet metal product, the manufacturing steps of the sheet metal product are specified, and costs involved in the manufacturing steps and costs required for estimation are computed.
However, the logical computation manner of the cost estimation method disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. H7-282142 is not suitable for estimating a cost of a mold, resulting in too rough estimation of the cost of the mold.
In case of using an existing mold which has been remodeled by design change, cost estimation for such a mold requires overall change of settings.
Further, estimation data acquired by workers belonging to other sections cannot be utilized for estimation.
And component manufacturers do not have means to know whether their goods are manufactured at a satisfactory cost level or not when compared to the industry's standard, or to know to what extent they should reduce the manufacturing costs while keeping the quality.